Indra Nooyi, chairman and ceo of PepsiCo
Indra Nooyi became president and ceo of Pepsico on October 1 2006 and assumed the role of chairman on May 2 2007.
She has since directed the firm’s global strategy and led its restructuring, including the divestiture of its restaurants into the YUM! brands.
She also oversaw its acquisition of Tropicana and merger with Quaker Oats. The Quaker Oats deal brought the Quaker and Gatorade businesses to PepsiCo, the merger with PepsiCo’s anchor bottlers, and the acquisition of Wimm-Bill-Dann.
This was the largest international acquisition in PepsiCo’s history, according to the business.
The firm has increased spending on research and development by 25% since 2011, Fortune claimed.
Earlier this year, the food and drink giant’s executive vice president Mehmood Khan, said product innovation was key to success of the business.
Products launched in the past three years now make up 9% of global food and drink revenue – which totalled $66.4bn (£44.77bn) in 2013. Of 2013’s 50 bestselling new food and beverage products in America, nine came from PepsiCo – including Starbucks Iced Coffee, Müller Quaker Yogurt, and Mountain Dew Kickstart, Fortune said.
In July the company raised its profit growth forecast for the year, which should have helped Nooyi counter calls by activist investor Nelson Peltz to break up the food and beverage giant, Fortune added.